• Stankevičienė, Ina
• Baronaitė, Asta
• Tamasauskaite-Tamasiunaite, Loreta
• Norkus, Eugenijus
• Juskenas, Remigijus
• Vaiciuniene, Jurate
• Kondrotas, Rokas

Abstract

<jats:p>In this study the graphene supported Au-Cu catalysts (denoted as AuCu/GR) with different Au:Cu molar ratio were prepared by microwave heating of Au(III) and Cu(II) salts in ethylene glycol (EG) solutions at 150 <jats:sup>o</jats:sup>C for 30 min. It has been determined that the composition of AuCu/GR catalysts depends on pH of reaction mixture. When the reaction mixture pH was 7.0, 10.1 and 12.2, the AuCu/GR catalysts having the Au:Cu molar ratios equal to 37:1, 1:13 and 1:32, respectively, were synthesized. The structure and composition of the prepared catalysts were examined by X-ray diffraction and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. A shape and size of catalyst particles were determined by transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that the graphene supported AuCu catalysts having the Au:Cu molar ratios equal to 1:13 and 1:32 show an enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of BH<jats:sub>4</jats:sub><jats:sup>–</jats:sup> ions comparing with the graphene supported bare Au catalyst and graphene supported Cu catalyst.</jats:p>

Topics

• nanocomposite
• x-ray diffraction
• gold
• transmission electron microscopy
• copper
• spectroscopy